| Exodus 20: |
4: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth: 5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
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| Exodus 34: |
5: And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and
proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6: And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7: Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8: And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. |
Sometime ago, we received a letter from Nigeria. We'll quote one small section of the letter, because it concerns this issue of whether or not Yahweh punishes children for the sins of their forefathers.
| Ezekiel 18: |
1: The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, 2: What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? 3: As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 4: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. 19: Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. 20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21: But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22: All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23: Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? 24: But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. 25: Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26: When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27: Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28: Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29: Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? 30: Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. |
These verses make it perfectly clear, the Most High does not punish children for the sins of their parents or grandparents. Every man, women, or child, the Almighty quite plainly says, will be rewarded or punished for his/her own actions. In other words, Yahweh has refuted the charge, He punishes children for the sins of their fathers. He doesn't do it! He does not punish one generation for the sins of another. That is what He plainly tells us in Ezekiel chapter 18.
The answer, we believe, is: There is a subtle difference between direct punishment and the inevitable repercussions of actions, which are judged to be iniquitous. The Hebrew word translated visiting is paqad. It means to look over, or after, to inspect, to judge. In other words, God will inspect and examine the results on future generations of parental iniquity. He will take note of how each generation influences the next. Let us explain further.
Iniquity has far reaching effects, effects that continue from generation to generation, effects that are already detailed in Yahweh's law; irreversible effects, which are the divinely ordained outcome of disobedience. Iniquity triggers a terrifying series of harvests, which overtake the sinner, his immediate family and succeeding generations. Though the innocent are not actually being punished for their parents sins, they are, nevertheless affected by them, just as a drunken driver could cause chaos to his fellow travelers, or a drug addict cause pain and suffering to his immediate family. In short, the repercussions and after effects of iniquity are legion. They have
On those near and dear to us, that is, on our children, their children, our friends and even the community we live in. Yahweh will not hold back or annul the immediate repercussions or effects of iniquity. They will be “visited.” They will be experienced by our children and their children. They will be “visited.” Every sinful word, every sinful deed, every sinful motive directly influences ourselves and others; particularly our children. If you commit iniquity, the curses mentioned in Yahweh's law will most certainly descend upon you and those who issue from your loins. These immediate repercussions, outcomes or harvests of iniquity are inevitable and irreversible. See section 6 where the outcomes of iniquity (the divine curses) are listed. These curses will certainly fall on sinners and nothing in the universe will stop them.
Long-term Effects
eternal death to the sinner himself. The Bible also teaches, the Almighty will, because of His Son's death on Calvary, offer salvation to you from the long-term effects of iniquity - eternal death!
| Isaiah 3: | 9: The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. |
| 2 Peter 2: |
16: But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with
man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
|
| Numbers 25: |
1: And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom
with the daughters of Moab. 2: And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3: And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4: And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. 5: And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor. 6: And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7: And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8: And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9: And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. |
| Leviticus 26: |
39: And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in
your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall
they pine away with them. 40: If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; 41: And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: 42: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 43: The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. |
| Matthew 7: |
21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. 22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. |
| Isaiah 13: |
9: Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce
anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof
out of it. 10: For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11: And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12: I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13: Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. |
Towards the end of the book, in chapters 27 and 28, you will find a detailed list of how Yahweh responds to acts of righteousness or iniquity: how He “visits the iniquity of the fathers on the third and fourth generation;” how the sins of the fathers affect their offspring several generations down the line. In other words, you will see the long-term results or harvests of sin. The list is long and includes the following:
| Curses for Disobedience | |
|---|---|
| Idolatry | 27: 15 |
| Deceit | 27: 18 |
| Illicit sex | 27: 20-23 |
| Bribery | 27: 25 |
| Violence | 27: 24 |
| Disrespect for parents | 27: 17 |
| Blessing for Obedience | |
|---|---|
| In the city and field | 28: 3 |
| Fruit of the womb | 28: 4 |
| Basket and Store | 28: 5 |
| National Defense | 28: 7 |
| Employment | 28: 8 |
| A good name | 28: 9 |
| Spiritual prosperity | 28: 10-12 |
These curses and blessings come as a direct result of human behavior. They are visited, they apply to all nations and communities. Whether a person is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or whatever, all peoples are included in these divine judgments. Disobedience and obedience will in every case result in the above mentioned curses or blessing. No one is excluded. Therefore, let no person, family, community or nation delude themselves into thinking that they will somehow bypass the inevitable consequences of iniquity - blatant sin. That will never happen. It cannot happen: because the Almighty does not change.
| Malachi 3: | 6: For I am the LORD, I change not; … |
He reacts to iniquity in this day and age exactly as He did in the days of Moses. To be sure, when people sin in ignorance, He will often suspend sentence and wink at their ignorance.
| Acts 17: | 30: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: |
When those same people are informed about their sins; when they know what His law commands, and defiantly continue in iniquity, then the divine judgments outlined in Yahweh's law will most certainly follow. Remember His words:
| Exodus 34: | 7: Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. |
| 2 Samuel 12: |
9: Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in
his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast
taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the
children of Ammon. 10: Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11: Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12: For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. |
The Bible tells us, the prophet’s words were fulfilled to the letter: murder, rape and adultery overtook the family of king David.
| Numbers 23: | 20: Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. |
Believe it or not, the whole human race is currently suffering for the sins of its ancestors; all the way back to Adam and Eve. The repercussions of the sins of our rebellious ancestors, and we all have them has brought all of mankind to the point of total disarray and chaos. The curses listed in the book of Deuteronomy are currently falling on all nations!
Billions of people are currently reaping a whirlwind harvest sown by their iniquitous ancestors. Troubles of every kind beset the whole human race. There just isn't any nation, city, town, village or community, which can honestly say, those curses are not apparent in its midst. The whole world is under a terrible curse! That is a fact, which only the blind cannot see.
This means, though a person is unable to escape the immediate consequences of ancestral iniquity: poverty, physical or mental disability etc., he/she can, through faith and obedience, enter the arena of mercy, blessing and eternal life. That is what salvation is all about. That is what Yahweh promises.
| Ezekiel 18: |
20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of
the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21: But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. |
Yes, salvation is possible. More about salvation.
Yeshua died to set us free from the curses listed in Yahweh's law. When we accept him, we start out on the road of blessing. This means, any so-called prophet, priest, prelate or pastor, who charges a fee for saying a few prayers and assumes he/she is able to somehow reverse a divine curse is himself/herself committing iniquity and deceiving the people who pay him/her.
Read the story of the prophet Balaam in Numbers chapters 22-24. Balaam was totally incapable of reversing Yahweh's blessing on Israel. By his own confession, he said, “I cannot reverse it.” Sad to say, just like Balaam of old, many Christian leaders, wolves in sheep’s clothing, have turned the church into a den of thieves and made counterfeit Christianity the most destructive force in humanity's history.
The only way to escape the curses listed in God's law, is to accept salvation by faith, and then to demonstrate that faith in acts of obedience. In the process of time, the incoming blessing will far outweigh the curses brought about by ancestral iniquity. The Bible makes it abundantly clear, the only way to escape eternal death is through faith and obedience. See the Gospel Library for information on the Everlasting Gospel.
